Episode 53 - It's like staring into the sun

12/6/2012 - We unveil our Indiegogo Campaign to push the show into the live and interactive arena. For news we talk the Ultra Egg Base from Bandai and the unusual choices in the Dynamite Action line from Evolution Toys, Robot Musashi and Mach Baron. In reviews it's some old-school goodness with Sankan-Oh and Jet Riser, some site drama over the Moe Moe Z-cune and how looking at the G2 Bruiticus hurts our very souls.

If I may answer some questions about MP Lambor in regards to some things Adam brought up, I think there are different constraints placed on MP Lambor that are not on other high end Transformers cars. The Alternators/ Binaltech line was more of a re-imagining of Diaclone where all of the vehicle modes for the characters were updated into then modern day cars. They also had looser connections to the original G1 designs they were based on with several Alternator toys pulling double or even triple duty through the use of repaints with different heads. They were more like toys for toys sake. Some of this bled over into the early Masterpiece toys like how Starscream walks the line between being the cartoon character and being an update of his original toy.

Similarly, the Alternity line is also focused high-end and intricate transforming toys and are again designed from the ground up to be toys for the sake of making more toys. They don't appear in any cartoon and are more of a curiosity to those inclined.

The overriding constraint placed on Lambor is that he has to look as much like his G1 cartoon counterpart as possible. He sacrifices opening doors and an interior to maintain the simple, streamlined look of the old cartoon. And he also has to do these things while being small enough to fit inside the new Optimus's trailer. He's a very tightly packed toy in vehicle mode. And as mechanically impressive and intricate the previous Alternator or Alternity toys were, they were much looser re-imaginings and thus could add more features without sacrificing accuracy to some original illustration from 1984.

And for some food for thought, the idea of paying more for a toy that emphasizes G1 accuracy over gimmicks does seem to be more palpable when it's not Hasbro or Takara doing it. Case in point, the unlicensed update of G1 Rollbar TW-T01 Grind Rod is also pretty expensive for what is by all appearances a Deluxe Class Transformer. I try not to fault anyone for liking or not liking a toy, but if we want to throw around monetary value there has always been demonstrable leeway when you factor in how much someone likes something ;3